Double miles offer to frequent flyers as Qatar Airways joins

Tuesday, 29 October 2013:  A special double miles offer is being made to cardholders of all oneworld® member airlines' frequent flyer programmes – including those of Qatar Airways' Privilege Club – to mark the addition of Qatar Airways to the alliance at midnight tonight.

Members of Qatar Airways' Privilege Club loyalty programme will receive double Qmiles rewards when flying between 15 November 2013 and 31 January 2014 (until 24 January 2014 for Cathay Pacific),  apart from during the holiday peak (20 December 2013 to 5 January 2014), on the airline's new oneworld partners - airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and around 30 of their affiliated airlines, provided they register first by logging into their account at qmiles.com

Similarly, members of existing oneworld airlines' loyalty programmes will receive double mileage awards when flying on Qatar Airways between 15 November 2013 and 31 January 2014 (until 24 January 2014 for Cathay Pacific's The Marco Polo Club cardholders) - apart from during the holiday peak (20 December 2013 to 5 January 2014).  For further details, see member airlines' websites.

The Platinum, Gold and Silver members of Privilege Club have been mailed new membership cards, bearing the oneworld logo and the corresponding alliance's "gemstone" tier status symbol, to ensure that they receive the alliance's full range of services and benefits when travelling throughout the entire oneworld network from midnight tonight.

Privilege Club Platinum cardholders will have Emerald status in the oneworld programme.  Privilege Club Gold will be equivalent to oneworld Sapphire and Privilege Club Silver will be oneworld Ruby.

From midnight tonight, Privilege Club Platinum and Gold members plus one accompanying guest will be able to use any of the more than 550 airport lounges worldwide offered by oneworld member airlines whenever they fly with any of the alliance's carriers, even in Economy Class.   That is five times as many lounges as they can use today and those lounges include many judged to be among the best in the world in the various airline industry award schemes.

As oneworld Emeralds, Privilege Club Platinum cardholders will be able to use First Class lounges, where available.  oneworld is the only alliance to offer top tier frequent flyers access to First Class lounges when they are not booked to travel in the First Class cabin.

Privilege Club Platinum cardholders from midnight tonight will be able to check-in at the First Class counters of the oneworld airlines, even if they travel in Economy or Business class and will also be offered additional baggage allowances and access to fast track through security checks at airports where fast track is offered.  See oneworld.com for more details.

Privilege Club Gold cardholders, equivalent to oneworld Sapphire, will be entitled to use any Business Class or frequent flyer lounge offered by oneworld's member airlines worldwide accompanied by a guest when they travel on any oneworld flight, no matter in which class they are booked. 

They can also check-in at Business Class desks when they depart on any oneworld flight, irrespective of their class of travel.

As oneworld Emerald and Sapphire frequent flyers, Privilege Club Platinum and Gold cardholders will, from tomorrow, be able to board any oneworld airline's flight at any time they choose before the boarding gate closes, rather than wait for passengers in the cabin in which they are booked to be called for boarding. Privilege Club Silver cardholders will, from tomorrow, have oneworld Ruby frequent flyer status. Like oneworld Sapphire members, they will be able to check-in at Business Class desks when they depart on any oneworld flight, irrespective of their class of travel.

All three oneworld tiers – Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby – are also offered priority standby and waitlisting on any oneworld airline, if the flight they want to travel on is fully booked.

In addition, they can pre-reserve their preferred seat on any oneworld flight, whenever this service is available.

Another key change for Privilege Club cardholders when Qatar Airways joins oneworld tomorrow is that they will earn Qpoints when they fly on any oneworld member airline. This will help them move up to a higher tier, with more services and benefits, or to retain their existing status.

They will also earn Qmiles when they fly on any oneworld member airline – and be able to redeem their Qmiles for flights not just to the 130 destinations served by Qatar Airways but to all 900 or so served by all oneworld member airlines.  That will expand to almost a thousand destinations when all the other airlines lining up to join the alliance have boarded.

Also from midnight tonight, the 140 million members of the established oneworld airlines' frequent flyer programmes will be able to earn and redeem awards, earn tier status points and receive all other oneworld benefits when flying on Qatar Airways.

oneworld frequent flyer benefits for top Qatar Airways Privilege Club cardholders, in brief

Notes

oneworld Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby cardholders departing from Doha on other oneworld member airlines or flying Economy Class on Qatar Airways will be able to receive the privileges and benefits to which they are entitled - access to premium check-in facilities, lounges, etc., as appropriate - at Doha's main passenger terminal.  Facilities at Qatar Airways' Premium Passenger Terminal at its Doha hub will continue to be accessible only by customers holding First Class or Business Class tickets on Qatar Airways. 

About Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways was launched in 1997 and quickly established itself as one of the world's fastest growing and highest quality airlines.  It was named Skytrax's Airline of the Year for 2011 and 2012 and runner-up for 2013.  It is also the organisation's Best Middle East Airline for the seventh year running and has retained Skytrax's five-star ranking since 2004. 

Qatar Airways, which uses the two-letter code QR, boarded 17 million passengers in 2012.  Its 130-aircraft fleet is one of the world's youngest, with an average age of four years, including the world's newest passenger jet, the Boeing 787.  It has orders and options for more than 250 new aircraft for delivery over the next few years, including 13 Airbus A380-800s, 80 Airbus A350s, 52 more Boeing 787s and 80 Airbus A320neos.

Among the 130 destinations worldwide it serves are oneworld hubs Amman, Berlin Tegel, Buenos Aires Ezeiza, Chicago O'Hare, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, Melbourne, Miami, Moscow Domodedovo, New York JFK, Osaka Kansai, Tokyo Narita, the Sao Paulo base of member elect TAM and the Colombo home of oneworld member elect SriLankan Airlines.

About oneworld

oneworld is an alliance of the world's leading airlines, committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience to frequent international travellers.  Its member airlines work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience, with special privileges and rewards for frequent flyers, including earning and redeeming miles and points across the entire alliance network. Top tier cardholders (Emerald and Sapphire) enjoy access to more than 550 airport lounges. The most regular travellers (Emerald) can also use fast track security lanes at select airports and extra baggage allowances.

oneworld is currently the holder of six leading international awards for airline alliances - named World's Best Airline Alliance in the 2013 World Airline Awards by the independent Skytrax airline quality ratings agency, Best Airline Alliance in Business Traveller's 2013 awards, the Best Airline Alliance by Global Traveler in its GT Tested Reader Survey 2012 Awards for the third year running, the World's Leading Airline Alliance in the 2012 World Travel Awards for the 10th year running, Australian Business Traveller Best Airline Alliance in 2012 for the second year running, and FlightStats Airline Alliance On-Time Performance 2012 winner, in what was believed to have been the first time a punctuality award has been presented to any global airline alliance.